Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Creature Commandos episode 7.The the DCU Batman cameo. However, there's one thing we can be confident of, and that's that James Gunn is just as capable of using the superhero genre to craft emotionally harrowing stories as ever.
As the writer of the DC Universe's debut show Creature Commandos, DC Studios co-CEO Gunn has not held back, with the series having a wide range of impactful scenes, including everything from a flashforward to a vision of a theoretical future dystopia where the DCU's main heroes are all dead, to some emotional moments that have proved genuinely heartwrenching for viewers - myself included. Despite thinking I was safe after we saw Creature Commandos episode 7 managed to break my heart anew with one surprising death.
Creature Commandos Makes Nina Its Most Likable Character
Across the course of Creature Commandos, Nina comes across as the most easily endearing figure of the main cast, being both one of the least violent of the group, and the most empathetic. This works effectively to not only place the more unhinged behaviors of some other team in a more contrasting light, but also to make her bond with them all the more poignant in the story.
Nina's blossoming if complicated friendship with the Bride is a prime example of this, as the two learn to work alongside one another in a series of surreal scenarios, but also seem to learn a little from one another too along the way - with their very different perspectives on how to handle a world that often frowns upon who they are making for some of the most interesting moments in the show. However, the steady building of Nina as ostensibly the most well-intentioned character in the team effectively works to set up her downfall.
Since Nina seems such a bonding force of the team, it seems like she's unlikely to die following her episode 2 death fakeout - until her actual death is shown on screen. This is especially true since, as the crew head towards their attempt to assassinate Princess Rostovic and save the world, it appears almost unfathomable that Nina will be the one to try and land the killing blow given the Bride and Doctor Phosphorus are hardened killers - right up until they have Nina sneak into the lake the Princess is in to do the job, cementing Nina's own fate at Ilana's hands.
Nina's Entire Story Sets Up Her Death To Be Truly Devastating In Creature Commandos' Ending
Just in case Nina's kind and sprightly nature wasn't enough to make you feel sad about her death, Creature Commandos episode 7 decides to show the full extent of her heart-wrenching backstory beforehand. Given the extent of Nina's suffering is pretty intensely fleshed out in this section of the story, her actual ing feels a million times worse than just seeing her brutally stabbed to death alone, as it comes shortly after we learn Task Force M is the first time Nina has been around a group of people who didn't actively harass her, and that she didn't do anything to be landed in Belle Reve.
Nina’s backstory - of being mistreated and cruelly bullied her whole life about a birth condition and her father's subsequent surgery on her - is painful to watch, and doubly so with the knowledge that she manages to still be kind despite having been mistreated by everyone who wasn’t her dad since she was born. With this sequence showing her running away from home and then being captured - leading to her father's death as he tries to break past her captors to tell her how much he still loves her - Nina's origin story pulls exactly zero punches.
While the backstory of each of the Commandos also had their own share of tragic moments, few of these come minutes before the character is killed. Similarly, though G.I Robot also appears to die in episode 3, Creature Commandos also sees him return with a new upgraded form, making things sadder again, as this means Nina is the only main character to have seemingly permanently ed in the very same episode that shows her origin story and the trials she's faced along the way - and indeed, died just as she found a group who were able to truly embrace and understand her.
Creature Commandos Killing Nina Off 5 Weeks After Her Debut Makes Her Death Even Worse
With Creature Commandos being the first official DC Universe release to debut after the actual DC reboot, the show works to help set up the overarching world we'll be witnessing more of in future releases. Since Creature Commandos season 2 was confirmed before the first season's finale released, it was easy to imagine that the main team would reprise their roles in the follow-up story. The idea that the stage was very much set for the entire crew to continue on - and potentially for years to come in this new franchise - I think makes seeing Nina die tragically feel worlds worse again.
Currently, the July 2025 Superman movie is the DC Universe's next release, though other projects could debut before then.
As it stands, the concept of giving Nina a potentially years-long story alongside the other Task Force M is cut painfully short painfully quickly. Unless the character is revived somehow in the future - which seems unlikely, as it would've most likely taken place in the final season 1 scene where Creature Commandos shows the new team if it was going to happen - Nina's whole DC Universe story starts and ends in just over a month of real-life time. With so much more time on the prospective horizon, it's sad to think of what could have been if not for her final unfortunate fate.
- Created by
- Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson
- First Film
- Man of Steel
- First TV Show
- Peacemaker
- Cast
- Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cara Delevingne, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Zachary Levi, Dwayne Johnson, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, Rosie Perez, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, Ewan McGregor, Idris Elba, John Cena, Michael Keaton, George Clooney, Xolo Mariduena
- Movie(s)
- Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, Zack Snyder's Justice League, The Suicide Squad, Black Adam, Shazam! The Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, Superman, The Brave and the Bold
- Character(s)
- Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, The Joker, Shazam, Darkseid, Amanda Waller, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Black Canary, Black Adam
The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
